Cursed
by Kidd2
Summary: Geddoe's life takes a sharp twist when he accepts a job from Harmonia. Takes place pre-Suikoden III.


"Cursed"

**Disclaimer**: As with my previous other fics, I don't own _Suikoden_. I would probably get beat by Konami for abusing their characters if they found out that I write these things. 

**Spoilers**: Hm, I suggest that you play all of _Suiko III_ before reading this, because there are spoilers. Spoilers!!!!

**Context: **This story is supposed to take place about eighty years before _Suikoden III_. Pretty much every event in it has randomly been thought up of by me. The only thing that is canon is that Geddoe gets the True Lightning Rune. The basis of the plot is how Geddoe acquired his True Lighting Rune. I estimated his age to be about thirty-ish at the time he got his rune, so obviously, Ace and the rest of the current SFDF won't be alive yet, as he's 112 in _Suikoden III_.  I made up another mercenary party to tag along with Geddoe, but I think I blatantly ripped off the current SFDF in this thing. I'll pretend that it's all right; the characters I made up in this fic are just support characters anyway. Honestly, writing with semi-original characters is a hell of a lot harder than with given characters; I wonder why people do it anyway. And if you're wondering, _neither_ of the females in Geddoe's party gets a True Rune. And on another note, I should work on my "drunken banter" speech; I did a lousy job on it. Shows you how often I'm around drunken people. Anyway. 

**…**

A handsome, dark-haired man walked into the dimly lit tavern.  "Alright, where the hell are those bums?" he muttered to himself, scanning the room. 

"Hey baby, wanna come over to my place? I could show ya a _good_ time!" called out a drunken patron of the bar. The man was used to these vulgar catcalls that he received so often. He merely walked past the obscene woman, who was close to passing out onto the floor anyway. 

"Hey, Cappin! Wanna join uhs for somfe boove?" called out a tall, brown-haired man who was sitting by several empty mugs. He was obviously quite inebriated, and looked like he was going to fall off of his bar stool at any moment. The Captain merely rolled his eyes at this drunken slur. 

"Alright, Roam, that'll be your last one for tonight. We have a mission to go on tomorrow." 

"Com'on, boff…" Roam whined. The Captain merely stared at Roam with his standard piercing glare. Roam got the idea that the Captain was serious, even through his drunkenness. 

"So, Geddoe, what's this mission?" asked a pretty red-haired girl who was busy helping Roam sit up in his drunken stupor. She did this with a certain expertise, hinting that she must deal with drunken allies on a regular basis. 

"I just got an order from some big-wigs in Harmonia. They want us to go do a bit of treasure hunting for them." Geddoe pulled out a map and placed it on the table. 

"Hey, Karina, wanna see a piece of _real_ man?" Roam slurred, oblivious to the map. Karina, the girl who was helping Roam sit up, merely let him drop to the floor with a thud, without so much of a change of expression. She also looked to be quite used to this. Geddoe continued to speak normally. 

"Apparently, we'll have to go to a Sindar Ruins for this one. Supposedly, something big is hidden away there. Not sure what though, they were fairly quiet about it." He pointed at the map. "This should be the rough location for it."

"Hm, an order from Harmonia?" Karina said, her finger to her mouth as she thought about the proposition. "If we botch it, we're screwed. If we do a good job, well, we'll be paid _quite_ well." She proceeded to kick Roam, who was still on the floor and blindly groping her leg. 

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I say we take the job. It's better than watching you all booze it up here. Hey, where's Kalen and Ria?" asked Geddoe, realizing that his other party members weren't at the table getting drunk.

"God knows where Ria is. Y'know how sleazy bars aren't exactly her thing. I'd guess she'd be outside taking a walk. Kalen's prob'ly 'round trying to pick up chicks. Pft, you think he woulda learned by now." She glanced down at Roam, who was now passed out on the floor and snoring softly. "Damn, we'll have to carry him upstairs." She rolled him onto his stomach. "Hopefully, he won't throw up on my boots this time. They're bloody new, y'know. The cleaning bill's gonna come out of _his _salary." 

"I'll go find Kalen. You baby-sit Sleeping Beauty here." Geddoe stood up, and surveyed the patrons of the bar. In the far distance, he saw Kalen flirting with a buxom brunette female. Rolling his eyes, he proceeded to walk over to Kalen and save him from any further embarrassment. 

"So, baby, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Kalen asked flirtatiously. The girl didn't even look up. "Ooh, playing hard to get, are we? Hey baby, do you have a mirror in your pants?" He continued on, without waiting for an answer. " 'Cause I can sure as hell see myself in 'em!" 

"Come on, Kalen. You can make a fool of yourself another time. We have a mission to do." Geddoe dragged a protesting Kalen back to where Karina was sitting. 

"Aw, Captain, that girl was _so _into me." Kalen whined, shooting a glance back at the girl. She was now heading up the stairs with another man.

  


"Right, I'll bet." Karina snickered. 

"Yeah, she was a helluva lot nicer than a shrew like you!" 

"I'll show _you_ shrew!" She stood up belligerently, ready to bar brawl. 

"Calm down, you two. Karina, be nice. Kalen, there are _plenty_ of other girls who are more than willing to slap you later. We have new orders."

Kalen brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes, in an attempt to show that he was cool about losing his so-called chance with the buxom brunette. "Orders? We just finished the last one! I thought we were on vacation!"

"You call yourself a mercenary? What a wimp." Karina sneered. 

"Hey now, watch your mouth!" 

"_Alright_, you two. Kalen, it's from Harmonia this time. They want us to do some treasure hunting for them. They promise to pay us well if we do our job." 

"How much is _well_?" Kalen asked suspiciously. "Last time, we barely made enough money to replace the armor that was damaged in battle!"

"Half a _million _potch." Geddoe said shortly. Kalen's jaw dropped at the thought of a sum that huge. 

"_Damn,_ boss. What do they want us to get for them? They must _really_ want us to help them out." Kalen said incredulously. 

"They were pretty hush-hush about it. I'm not sure myself, exactly, except supposedly it's priceless. I'll get some more information tomorrow about the job, right before we leave." Geddoe indicated to Roam, who was still asleep on the floor, and now muttering inanely. "We'll tell him tomorrow about our plans."

"Five hundred _thousand_ potch, boss. We'd be livin' the new life!" Karina threw her arms back and smiled. "Can you _imagine_ what we'd do with that kind of money? We could almost settle down and retire!" 

"Yeah, I know. But first, we have to finish the job. Karina, when you see Ria, tell her about our new assignment. We'll leave early tomorrow morning, after breakfast." Geddoe stood up, ready to leave the seedy tavern. 

"Right, boss." She threw some potch on the bar, and kicked Roam again. "Damn, _still_ not awake. Here, Kalen, help me carry him upstairs." They proceeded to hoist him up off the floor and up the stairs. 

"Remember, tomorrow morning, at dawn. I'll be up earlier." Geddoe walked into his room and closed the door. Honestly, he thought to himself. He wasn't sure how he managed to get stuck with such an odd group of people. True, they were all excellent mercenaries. Karina could certainly prove her worth with her fists, and she was an accomplished water magic user. Quite invaluable, a girl who was both a fighter and a magic user. Usually, you'd find one who was one or another, but not both. Her physical defense was fairly decent, but she didn't take being hit by magic too well. Kalen, when not flirting with girls, was also skilled. He didn't have quite the brute strength that Roam or Geddoe had, but he was _fast_ with a rod. Kalen didn't have the same magic using ability that Karina had, however, but topped her easily in technique. His speed allowed him to dodge most hits and attacks. Roam used a whip, claiming that he could get several hits in one shot with it if he was lucky. Ria, the final member of Geddoe's odd little troupe, was perhaps the most eccentric of the bunch, but the most talented. She was as old as Geddoe, but acted like she had many more years of experience under her belt. She rarely spoke, as her motto was "strike first, explanations later." Ria was the most experienced of all the mercenaries, and also the most disciplined. She took a liking to daggers, claiming they were her weapon of choice. She was also an offensive magic user, and had a fire rune embedded in her hand. 

Geddoe shook his head, and supposed he wasn't any better. He was a typical sword fighter. As he was male, he could rely on strength instead of speed to help win his battles. As for magic, he had an unexplainable fondness for lightning runes. One was currently embedded in his left hand. He wanted his right hand completely free from anything, as that was the hand that he bore his sword with. He had decent technique, he supposed. His speed was all right, but nothing special. He supposed he ended up captain because he was the most commanding of the five. Whatever works, he thought, shaking his head. Despite his criticism over his odd party, he also felt a special fondness for his mercenaries. They _did _look up to him, and actually even _listened _to him at times. They all worked together well, and Geddoe couldn't imagine being without them.

"So, boss, how do y'think we'll do tomorrow?" asked Kalen, who had finished putting Roam's sleeping body to bed. 

"Who knows? We're all trained mercenaries, and have been through a lot. We'll be fine." Geddoe took off his chain mail and lied down in his bed. Kalen blew out the lamp that was sitting in the corner of the small, cramped room. 

"I hope so, boss. For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this." Kalen said softly in the dark room. Geddoe said nothing. He ran his index finger over his right palm. For some reason, he had felt a faint tingling sensation there. But as soon as it came, it went, and Geddoe brushed it off to nervousness. 

"We'll be fine. Let's go to bed." Geddoe rolled over, and closed his eyes. 

**…**

"There ya are, boss!" greeted Karina, who was eating a blueberry muffin in the tavern. Now, light filtered through the greasy windows, and it looked to be almost a pleasant place to dine in. Geddoe held up a thin sheet of parchment. 

"Alright, boys and girls, I got a contract for this. We find this treasure at the ruins, and we get paid our money." 

"Sounds good to me, boss." Roam said, eating a plate of eggs and sausage. Kalen's mouth was full of oatmeal, so he only nodded in agreement. 

"What do you think, Ria?" Geddoe asked his fourth party member. 

"It's just another job to me. Let's do it and get our money." Ria sipped her orange juice. 

"Alright, good. This ruins is about a day's walk, maybe two, from here. We'll camp out outside the cave, and then go into it tomorrow, or whenever we get there. The whole thing shouldn't take us more than a week." Geddoe announced, as he ate one of Karina's muffins. 

"God, I don't know how I could last that long without booze." Roam said wistfully. 

"Good, maybe _this_ time you won't throw up on my boots! They were new!" said Karina, gesturing to her feet. 

"Hey, I _told_ you I was sorry for that! What else do you want?" Karina and Roam continued to bicker for a few more minutes. Geddoe started to think about the extra details he had heard from the messenger from Harmonia earlier that morning. 

**…**

"So, you know nothing about what this 'treasure' is?" Geddoe asked the messenger-boy once again. The boy shook his head in impatience. 

"No, I _told _ya, I dunno _nuthin'_ 'bout it. They just told me to give ya this piece of paper with these details. I can't read nuthin' anyway, so I dunno what it's 'bout." Geddoe could tell the boy was telling the truth. 

"Fine. We should be back in a week, maybe two weeks at the most. Tell your commanders that we won't fail." Geddoe understood that Harmonia was based on a highly intricate network of politics, with orders being passed from one person to another. The boy really would know nothing about their next mission. Geddoe dismissed the boy, and started to read the note:

            _To Captain Geddoe: _

                        As we previously agreed, you will infiltrate the Sindar Ruins to the south of the Scarlet Moon Empire. As you may know, it will be full of dangerous monsters and traps that may cost you and your party your lives. However, we understand that you are the captain of a particularly skilled mercenary party, and we are hiring you because of your party's expertise in battle. There is a particular treasure hidden in the depths of the ruins. I am only receiving orders from King Hikusaak, who has not even revealed to me what this treasure may be. He has described it to be only worthwhile to a few, which is why we are entrusting mercenaries to obtain it for us. My Lord has described the altar that the treasure is contained in is guarded by a vicious creature. However, as I stated earlier, I have utmost confidence that you will be able to defeat this monster, obtain this treasure that My Lord so desires, and bring it to us. We have given you one hundred thousand potch to you and your party as down payment for your services. You should be able to purchase the necessary supplies with this money. After you successfully complete your mission, we will pay you the other four thousand potch that we agreed upon, bringing the total to five hundred thousand. We are eagerly awaiting your arrival to Harmonia with the spoils.

The letter was signed in the fancy script of a Harmonian priest, with his name seal stamped at the bottom. Geddoe folded the letter back up and placed it in his pocket. He had an uneasy feeling about this particular job. Why were they paying them so much for such a simple job? Geddoe and his party had no problems raiding abandoned caves and places for treasure. This commission was much more odd, however. Why were they being so damn mysterious about it? What the hell was hidden away in that Sindar Ruins, anyway? It couldn't have been money; that would have been far too simple. Harmonia could have just taxed its people more, and save themselves the trouble of hiring mercenaries. Perhaps some priceless treasure? What the hell would a King want with a dusty old vase anyway? Geddoe knew as a mercenary, he shouldn't question his orders, only perform them and get paid. However, he was wondering about this. What did they want so badly?

**…**

"Captain? Captain?" Karina waved her gloved hand in front of Geddoe's face. "You there?"

"Sorry, just thinking about this mission." Geddoe put his muffin down. He was too anxious to eat anymore. He was starting to regret taking this assignment. Normally, he felt confident about his mercenary abilities, but this mission sounded much more difficult than anything he had done before. He couldn't quite pinpoint why he felt so apprehensive about this assignment. 

"Woo-yeah, think 'bout all the money we're going to be gettin' soon! We'll be _rolling_ in potch!" Karina grinned, excited at the thought of being so wealthy. 

"_All_ the women would flock to me…"Kalen said dreamily. 

"I'll be _damned _if you're gonna waste all our hard-earned money on some trashy whores. It's a _bloody_ good thing Ria's the one managing our money." Karina said to Kalen with a raised eyebrow. 

"Speaking of money, I got us some extra supplies for the trip. Everything's been documented in the books, Captain." Ria said, pointing to a worn-ledger, speaking before Kalen could get a word in edge-wise.  

"Good. Is everyone done? We'll head out now." Geddoe stood up, and placed a few potch on the table. The party left the inn, and started their journey to the Sindar Ruins. 

"So, Captain, what do you think is hidden away there?" Roam asked. 

"I don't know. I'm kind of worried about it, actually. It's so odd that those Harmonians are being so quiet about this job. I really wonder what they want us to get for them." Geddoe replied. 

  


"Ah, who cares? We'll be riiiiiich!!!!" sang Kalen, who was skipping along ahead of the rest of the party. 

"Jeeze, calm down. It's not like we can waste this money. Mercenary jobs have been far and few. We're lucky that we've been hired over any other team." Ria said. 

"Yeah, I wonder why they hired us?" wondered Roam. 

" 'Cause we're the best damn group of mercenaries that Harmonia's ever bloody seen!" yelled Karina. 

"Damn right we are!" cheered Roam. 

"Let's not get too over-confident about this, you all. We're not completely sure what's in store for us. Our assignment was rather sketchy. The only description that was given to us was that it's '_only worthwhile to a few' _and '_the altar that the treasure is contained in is guarded by a vicious creature'. _Really helpful information." Geddoe said, slightly irritated at the vagueness of the note. 

"Eh, we can handle anything. We can all pull our weight fighting, and you, Ria, and Karina are also magic users. What else d'we need?" asked Kalen. 

"That's what I'm worried about. I'm starting to regret taking this mission. I've got a bad feeling about this." Geddoe replied, furrowing his brow. 

"Damn, Captain, you _are _worried about this. I can see it in your eyes." Karina noted. 

"I'm hoping it's just because I don't want to botch this mission up. It's Harmonia, after all. If we do a good job, they'll most likely hire us out again. And if they'll pay us like this again, well, we'll be able to retire quite easily. If we don't do finish our mission, well…" 

"We'll see, Captain. I think we can do anything." Ria smiled, to assure Geddoe. 

"I hope you're right." Geddoe looked down his right-hand again. It had just tingled again. Odd, Geddoe thought. Is this supposed to be some kind of sign? he wondered. 

"Anyway, let's not waste time talking. It'll take us at least a day to reach the ruins, according to this map here. The sooner we get this treasure that they want so much, the sooner we can get our money!" Kalen said eagerly. 

"Yeah, I don't think there are any inns that we can stay at on the way. We would have to camp out." Geddoe responded. 

"Great, the last time we did that, I had to sleep on something that was _jabbing _and _poking _my bloody back the _entire_ night. I didn't sleep a _wink_ that night!" Karina complained. 

"Oh, so who's the whiny one _now_?" retorted Kalen. 

"I'll show _you_ whiny!" 

Geddoe walked on, oblivious to their bickering. What would they encounter at these ruins? What _was_ this damn treasure that they wanted so badly? And why was he so worried about it?

"You okay, boss?" Ria quietly asked Geddoe. 

"Yeah, I'm fine, just kind of lost in thought. I'm just worried about what's going to be there. You know how I like to be prepared." Geddoe responded. 

"We should be okay, right?"

"I hope so." He sighed. "We'll find out soon enough, anyway."

"Yeah. How bad could it be, anyway?"

Geddoe thought about this. How bad _could _it be? He would just have to wait and see. 

**…**

**AN: **Ooh, suspense! Though it's pretty obvious what Geddoe's worried about it. Oh, the dramatic irony, or something. There will be another chapter coming up soon! Comment, please!!!


End file.
